Carpet-stretcher



. (No Model.)

R. MOFFITT.

CARPET STRETGHER.

No. 328,506. PatentedOct. 20, 1885. 5kg 1 Hill!!!" ATENT OFFICE.

RUTH MOFFITT, OF WHEATLAND, ILLINOIS.

CARPET-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 328,506, dated October 20, 1885.

Application filed June 23, 1885.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RUTH IVIOFFITT, of Wheatland, in the county of Bureau, and State of Illinois, have invented an Improved Oarpet-Stretcher, of which the following isa specification.

The special object of the invention is to furnish the public with a carpet-stretcher which can be conveniently manipulated and securely held in position while it is being tacked down.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a plan View, showing the stretcher projected from the frame and held ready so that the edge of the carpet may be arranged and properly tacked down. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the stretcher slid back within its guide-frame and the claw free to be fastened in the carpet. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the slide-bar.

1n the drawings, A represents the guideframe, consisting of two bars, a a, longitudinally rabbeted at a on their opposite faces, and provided at each end with the caps aa.

B is the claw-piece, which is excised or cut out at 1), between the claws, to afford space for the holding of the tacks and the driving of them through the carpet into the floor.

B is the slide-bar, which is attached to the claw-piece at or about the middle thereof, moves back and forth between the bars a a, and carries side rolls, 1) bflwhich work in the grooves of said bars.

I) b are staples on the opposite ends of slide-bar B, to which are attached the ends of rope or cord F, the latter being sufficiently wrapped about the Windlass to allow the desired back and forward movement to the bar B.

O G are two parallel uprights which are rabbeted at 0, so as to rest upon the bars a a, and are securely fastened thereto. Near the top of these uprights,and in bearings made there in for the purpose, at the same height and directly opposite to one another, are held the journals (1 d of a Windlass, D, having the hand-crank d on the end of one of said j ournals.

On one end of the Windlass D, I preferably, but not necessarily, make a ratchet, d in Serial No. 169,556. (No model.)

which works adetent,E,pivoted to the side of the adjacent upright C.

The operation is as follows: The device being in the position with all its parts as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings,and the chain, rope, or cord F being attached to each end of the slide-bar B, and wound about the Windlass to the extent of the stroke of the slide-bar B, the operator turns the crank toward the front until the carpet is stretched to the degree intended. As this is done, the detent, which may be held to the ratchet by gravity, rises and falls on its pivot without interfering with the forward movement of the windlass; but no matter when the operator ceases to eX- ert force upon the crank, the carpet is held firmly up to the point to which it has been stretched. The operator nowleaves his crank, takes his hammer and proceeds to tack down the carpet in the spaces 1) between the claws. He then throws back his detent E, turns the Windlass in the opposite direction, and he is ready to stretch another part of the carpet.

It will thus be seen that with my invention one person with little or no assistance may put down a carpet in the most careful and thorough manner.

Having thus described all that is necessary to a full understanding of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a carpet-stretcher, the combination of two parallel bars, a a, capped at a, and rabbeted at a",with a claw-bar, B, having two opposite side rolls, bflworking on said rabbets a, as shown and described.

2. In carpet-stretchers, the combination, with a claw-bar, B, having an end staple on top of each end and a superposed windlass journaled in uprights C O, of a flexible connection,F, wrapped about the windlass to the length of the stroke of said slide-bar,and fastened at its ends to the staples b 1), whereby the claw-bar may be operated in both directions by the Windlass, as described.

RUTH MOFFITT.

"Witnesses:

NORTON MOFFITT, ABRAHAM ANDERSON. 

